


Saltwater Kisses

by thingsishouldntbedoing - discontinued (arminoni)



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Merpeople, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-29
Updated: 2014-01-29
Packaged: 2018-01-10 12:46:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1159897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arminoni/pseuds/thingsishouldntbedoing%20-%20discontinued
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The ocean is a fickle mistress. Some love her with a passion unequalled. Others, still, fear her watery bosom for the darkness that becomes a grave for even the bravest sailors.</p><p>For Levi, the taste of her saltwater kisses leave naught but sadness on his tongue. For Erwin the only taste is hope.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Saltwater Kisses

**Author's Note:**

> -shows up late to the EruRi party with Starbucks-
> 
> tumblr: thingsishouldntbedoing

"There will be a storm tonight," he heard the men talking, laying boredom at the bow of the ship and watching the hull cut through the clear waters of the ocean beneath him. He had been excited to start this journey, to go to a new life of swashbuckling pirates and fierce warlords... At least that's what his father told him it would be like.

" _Asad_ what are you doing? My little lion," a familiar voice shot excitement through his veins and he sat upright. "Your mother says supper will be ready for you, soon."

"Papa I want to climb the mast," he sat up, informing his father with a determined sort of gleam.

"Oho! Do you now? Do you think you can handle that?" The tanned flesh of his father's face wrinkled into a familiar smile, dark hair long and tied back beneath a bandana that Levi had always loved. It smelled of sweat and seawater and _father_ and when he would return home he'd hook it around Levi's neck and kiss his face and that was all the joy in the world Levi needed.

"Yessir!" He nodded fiercely.

"Such a serious child," he smiled and ruffled Levi's hair. "Oh! Levi look!" He hoisted his son into his arms and leaned out over the railing.

"Wow what are those?" Levi could see figures passing in and out before the ship, fading back before jumping gleefully into the air-- all shining grey skin and pencil shaped faces.

"They are called porpoises," he replied, resting his chin on Levi's head. "They help sailors by lifting our spirits when storms draw near, and will rescue you if you're drowning. Frightfully smart creatures."

"They're so beautiful," Levi whispered, kicking his legs. "I want to be a porpoise..."

"If you think hard enough you can be anything!" His father swung him up above his head and whirled around, dancing around the deck amidst Levi's screams and echoing laughter that died on the open water.

"If you have too much fun you won't eat your supper," Levi landed in the soft arms of his mother, looking up at her with a sheepish smile that echoed his father's. "Run along and eat, I set it on your father's desk," she smiled softly and he nuzzled his face into her salted cheek. She smelled fresh, even now, like clean linen and flowers and earth beneath the salt and brine of the ocean.

"Yes, Maman," he sprinted off as soon as he was set down, lingering a moment to watch his parents embrace. He liked the way his father curled his fingers around his mother's braid and kissed her silken, black hair. The way she smiled at his soft words and shifted her weight in her boots and traced her thumb over the scar on his jaw. He liked how the palest pink of the sunset shone behind them on the horizon and painted them in pastels.

He loved the spike of warmth that filled his belly when his father glanced over and grinned at him, winking as he shooed him off towards dinner.

He couldn't even begin to imagine the adventures they would have together, and the thought left him breathless as he scarfed down his dinner.

 

* * *

 

Settled against his mother's bosom as she read to him in the gentlest of voices was his second favorite place to be after tucked between her and his father on a cold night. He closed his eyes and listened to her speak in her native tongue, a lyrical language that he could only barely understand. 

"Levi are you falling asleep," he tangled his hand into her braid and smiled, earning a laugh from her. The earrings in her lobes jingled, a soft sound against the soft sounds of the storm outside. "My sweet boy," she kissed his head, bundling him up. "Did you practice with the sword today?" 

"Yes! Papa helped."

"I'm sure he did," her voice warmed with mischief. "Have you been sick?"

"Not since the first day," he replied. "Are you going to see father?" He glanced towards the door that led into the office. The captain's quarters held a small room, that Levi thought had probably been a wardrobe at some point, that had been turned into his own space-- not that he was disappointed. It was small and quiet with his own soft bed where he could hang a lantern and read at night. It had become his favorite place, needless to say.

"He's worried about the storm blowing us off course, is all," she ruffled his hair and kissed his cheek. "Get some rest and I'll be back, okay?" 

"Maman?" He caught her fingers and memorized the way her nails looked, oval and pale against soft skin that warmed beneath his touch. "I love you."

"I love you, too," her face softened and he memorized that too, the way her smooth eyes crinkled at the corners and the silver of her irises, so like his own, narrowing beneath the dark abyss of her pupils. "Get some rest, your father will come tell you good night if he can be persuaded off the helm." She chuckled and pulled the curtain that acted as his door.

For some reason Levi wanted to reach out after her. To say _'don't go'_ and have her hold him close until the storm had passed.

The sound of the cabin door shutting left him empty and afraid.

 

* * *

 

The rolling of the seas had always kept him awake at night but this night it was worse, even with the tea the quartermaster swore by. Tea that Levi wasn’t entirely certain was made up with actual tea. That thought took his mind off the storm outside for a moment, closing his eyes into his pillow as rain pounded its fists against the window; abusing the glass until it rattled in its panes. Levi threw his covers off, feeling bile rising up against his epiglottis as he staggered towards the door of the cabin. Vomiting imminent.

 _Water?_ The slapping of his feet in ankle high waters had his heart racing. There had never been water in his father’s cabin before, even in a storm.  
  
“Papa!” He howled for him, nearly knocked off his feet by the neck rollicking wave, clutching for the door bar with all his might. “PAPA!” He cried again, hearing the shouts of deckhands faintly over the thunder that exploded over his head. All he could smell was burning seawater, struck by lightning nearby as he managed to shove his small frame against the door. “Maman!” He scrabbled his nails against the shiplap, the beginnings of anxiety choking his air as the ship nearly rolled, sweeping him off his feet and leaving him dangling for the briefest of moments.

He finally managed to stagger out, legs washed with ocean water as lightning ripped the sky in two and blinded his wide eyes. He didn’t have time to think when a great wave washed over the starboard bow, thrusting him back against the door he’d just come from and robbing him of his standing before sucking him down towards the ocean-- hungry for prey.  
  
“ **Get the boy**!” He heard someone call over the screech of winds and the heavy vibrato of the tied sails, the voice nearly a sotto against the backdrop of moaning wood and crashing waves.  
  
He felt fingers slip over his skin and he crashed into the railings as the ship careened to one side once more, a powerful hand yanking him up by his shoulder.  
  
“Levi I told you to stay inside!” He heard his father’s voice, filled with all the fear and love in the world, then saw his face -- filled with terror and anger.  
“Papa! I was so scared!” He clung to him as hail began to pelt the deck of the ship, a roaring staccato of icy bullets as the ship lurched again.  
  
“BRACE YOURSELVES!” His father’s shout nearly broke his eardrums. “FIFTY AFT--” Water smashed into the ship, breaking the hold of the helmsman and sending him flying over the wheel as Levi's nails ripped into the soaked fabric of his father's vest, the embroidery feathering beneath his grip. "Where's your mother, _Asad_?"

Levi liked hearing his father use his nickname, even now with the waters roaring around them and stampedes of hail and rain beating down against salt-soaked skin, he liked how it sounded in his baritone, rumbling in his chest against Levi's small body. He couldn't answer him, shaking his head against the rough cotton of his collar.

" _Asad_ listen to me," his unshaven beard scratched his ear, roughed his cheek, but it was okay because his father was there-- firm and sturdy. "When did you last see her?"

He remembered her touch, warm and safe, and her lips soft against his brow. She had returned to check on him when the storm had hit, he thought.

"I saw--"

"CAPTAIN JAEGER!" The voice was drowned out and flooded from their ears as a tower hovered over them. A watery wall of devastation. Levi hung his hand beneath the thick leather of his father's scabbard, feeling his heart stop beneath his knuckles.

"Hold your breath," his voice was a whisper in Levi's memory. Almost a yell in the deafening silence. A melody that hung half finished against the slow drum of Levi's heartbeat, slowing further as the darkness drew near.

Not even thunder could reach him as his father clutched him close and pressed a prayer against his temple.

 

* * *

 

Humans were a curiosity for him. They always had been. He was a child who drew too near to ships and fishing lines, a reckless child who dared to be within the sight of sailors but never enough to be recognized. They interested him. Humans and their silly looking _legs_. Humans and their clothes. Humans and their kindness. They were so different from the marine people he was born from. They didn’t have long tails and fins or gills near their ears. But from what he’d seen: they weren’t that different. They loved and laughed and sang. They were reckless, taking to the open waters in their buckets made of wood and stone, but he admired their gall.

And these humans were no exception.

He had seen the ship before, earlier on their travels through the oceans towards their summer home, but he wasn’t sure this was the way it was supposed to be. His eyes took in the eerie sight of the boat backlit by lightening, capsizing as they passed, pity filling his chest. He glanced at his brothers, checking their pace, and wondering about the objects slowly descending towards the ocean floor.  
  
“Where are you going, Erwin?” The eldest caught his tail as he turned to swim the other way, dark hair wafting in the tide.  
  
“The ship…” his nictitating membranes slid over his eyes, clearing the salt from them.  
  
“That is not our concern,” his brother shook his head and turned to follow their pod, but Erwin wasn’t about to leave. Not just yet. Not with so much left to discover. They would rest overnight in a lagoon nearby, he remembered that from their last journey, so he wouldn’t have far to go.

 _I’ll just have a look._  
  
He drew in water through his gills, expelling through his mouth as he whipped his tail and swam toward where bodies struggled in the frigid waters of the ocean. He saw legs atop the water and swam with all his might, dodging sinking barrels and ropes that threatened to wrap around his fins.

He passed a body whose pale face left a haunted feeling in his chest. A woman with long dark hair, a slender rope tangled around her throat and waist that had loosened in the water. A flash of lightning above the surface cast bright light, illuminating the horror and struggle still present on her face. Evidence of the horror she had witnessed.

His heart ached as he slowed, watching humans struggle to the surface like plankton from the mouth of a whale; too small to make a difference in the endless darkness of the sea. The heaviness only deepened as his head broke the water, hearing someone yelling over the sound of the storm.

"Please!" Erwin turned his head to find a man, half drowning, with a small body in one arm as he thrust his arm into the ocean. "Please help!" There were tears on his voice and the scent of death clung to his skin. "My son!" Erwin swam closer, tentative. "Help... F-find..." He was nearly dragged under again and Erwin dove towards him, catching him under the arm.

"You're..." The man's eyes were dark in the storm, lightning giving them an odd milky look. "Save him..." He pleaded, sobbing. "Please I..."

Erwin looked at the boy, then started to drag them both.

"No!" The man barked with all the ferocity of a legion. "I'm..."

It was then Erwin noticed the slimy heat of viscera sliding against his tail, the faded look upon the man's face, and the paled pallor of his skin.

"I'm dead... Save him..." The peace on his face at that moment drew heat to Erwin's face and burned his eyes. "Thank you..." He whispered and passed the slender child to his arms. "His name is--" water filled his mouth "--Levi..." He tried again, releasing himself from Erwin's grasp. "Save him..." His whisper broke the merman's heart as chilled fingers slid against his hip, the man sinking beneath the water-- exhaling his gratitude.

Erwin watched for a moment where the man had disappeared, heart pounding in his chest, before turning and swimming towards the shore. His powerful tail propelled them, body cutting through the water as he cradled the boy’s head to keep it above water.

Death wasn’t something he’d experienced frequently. He’d killed fish and once he’d help his brother Nile kill a shark but this had been a different experience entirely. This had been watching the light of life vanish from the eyes of another sentient being. The eyes of another man. He had seen the soul vanish from his face like flames extinguished, a whisp of breath like pale smoke in the storm.

He had heard the pain and panic in his voice. The love that filled his veins like a fury, keeping his heart pounding when seawater had rushed into his gut in replace of organs.

_Is this what humans are truly capable of?_

He heard coughing from his shoulder, arms around his neck tightening against his exposed skin. The boy was waking, and Erwin still had far to go.  
  
“Take a deep breath okay?” He said against his neck, tightening his arms around him. “We’re going to go under the water.” He could swim more quickly without the waves pushing against him, and haste was needed.  
  
“Okay,” he heard the boy acquiesce and waited to hear him breathe in.  
  
“Keep your eyes shut,” Erwin dove then, breaking the surface and moving his entire body against the pull of the undertow. 

They sped off, breaking the surface from time to time when Levi needed a breath, staying deep enough to avoid the pull of the waves. He could feel Levi shivering, wishing he had something to warm him with. The best he could do was unbutton the boy’s shirt and press their bare chests close together, the warmth of skin on skin would help somewhat-- at least he hoped. The last thing he wanted to do was let the dying man down. The man whose last words had been ‘ _save him’_.

He broke the top of the water to the sound of Levi’s coughing through chattering teeth, too cold and stunned to speak. He looked around, long hair falling into his eyes. He could swim for miles in the open ocean, but with little to no visibility…

 _What am I supposed to do?_  
  
“Papa? Maman?” He heard the boy murmur. He couldn’t be much older than Erwin, that much was certain, and the fact that he was calling for his parents hurt his chest so violently he had to make sure he hadn’t been stabbed by something.

_Save him._

Desperation began to fill his limbs and his tail thrashed violently in the ocean water, impatience edging into his lungs. He had to do something. Anything. 

“NILE!” He called his brother’s name, as if he could hear him. “MIKE!” He slapped the water’s surface, praying they would draw near. “Mother!?” He felt the boy’s legs begin to loosen around his waist, clutching him harder to his chest. “Father please!” His voice was hopeless, tears beginning to burn his eyes as he looked up into the rain. “I just… I just want to help…” he pressed his face into Levi’s shoulder, feeling his small fingers curl through Erwin’s damp hair. He made a horrible sob then, salt water flooding his mouth.  
  
 _If I don’t do it he’ll die._  

That thought filled him and set fire to his chest. 

_No one else is here to help me. **I** have to do it._

His tears fell and joined the waters around him, blue eyes alight in the darkness of the fading storm.

_I can’t let him die._

With that thought the only thing keeping his tired fins moving he started off once more, arms growing weak in the cold waters. He knew he had to save him. He had no other choice. He couldn’t watch death take someone else if he could help it. He couldn’t let more people die without necessity.

 

* * *

 

He wondered how long he had been swimming when the dawn broke at the edges of the storm, sunlight licking at the faintest shape of leaves in the distance.

 _Leaves._ His heart shot into his throat.  
  
“Hey!” He shook the boy, tired eyes itching. “Hey look!” When he didn’t move what little hope that had stirred in his chest vanished in a fluttery panic. “No!” He took off again, once more spurred by desperation. “No please! No don’t die!” He struck out with one arm this time, dragging himself through the water towards the sand and palms slowly growing larger in the distance. “Please! Please!” He broke into the warm waters of a lagoon, feeling immense relief as he threw Levi’s body into the shallows and onto the soft, white sand.  
  
 _Please wake up._  
  
He curled his tail up under the boy’s knees and braced his tired body over him, passing his hand over his blue lips and bracing his head against his forearm. “Levi? Levi can’t you hear me?” He pressed his hand hard against his chest, lowering his head to check for a heartbeat. 

Nothing.

For the longest moment Erwin didn’t breathe, gills fluttering with the sadness that burned in his throat.

“Please don’t die!” He pumped his breastbone, shoving most of his weight down in the way he’d seen other humans do. He could feel the boy’s bones give, pressing hard against his organs as Erwin thrust his body with each desperate attempt. “PLEASE!” He cried out and suddenly Levi was moving, aspirating seawater and choking on air. “Levi?” Hope spilled into his chest once more, brighter this time.  
  
The boy fell back onto his back, eyes glassy, but he he was breathing normally now. Erwin nearly cried again, curling his arms around him and pulling him close. He could hear his pulse now, a gentle lub-dub that beat in his ears as Levi’s tired eyes began to fall closed again-- exhausted from his ordeal.

_I should find my family._

Erwin watched Levi’s pale face in the dawn, glistening with moisture as he rested in the merman's arms. He was warm, and _breathing_ , but somehow Erwin couldn't leave yet. Not now, watching the way his damp lashes flickered against delicate cheekbones that stole his breath. He pushed the boy's hair back from his face, missing a few strands in his efforts, trailing his thumb over the corner of his mouth.

_You aren't that different from me…_

He wished he could find someone to take him in; that he could walk the island to see if other humans were around… but that was beyond his control. All he could do was leave to find his family and hope that the boy he’d saved would be alright. 

He nestled his head against the sand beneath them, enjoying the soft rush of waves over his tail as he felt his eyes droop in the warmth of the early morning sun. Perhaps he deserved a rest as much as the boy he had saved.


End file.
